Dealing with the YES and NO of selling

The YES in selling:

A good technique in sales and selling is to collect ’ yeses’.  Focusing on the positives, you check on their satisfaction of your quote or proposal by asking:

‘So, you are happy with this…..?’

‘That works ok for you….?’

You like this approach to that issue..?

…and finally, we move to secure the deal with, ‘shall we move forward with this?’ or other words suitable for the occasion.

The NO in selling:

If the deal has reached the point where you must not or cannot give way, then you must be prepared to walk away.  A ‘no deal’ is better than a ‘bad deal’ that has a negative impact on your business.

However, what worries most people is the ‘no thank you’ when you have worked hard to win the deal and have finally asked for the business.  I have many successful techniques for changing this ‘no’ to a ‘yes’ when asking for the business, but there are times when you will be unable to get passed the immovable ‘no’.

Your offer is rejected, and you can see no way forward for this business relationship. 

How do you cope with what feels like personal rejection?

You may have been trying to find new customers and every contact has been politely declined, every prospect has said no. This form of ‘rejection’ can also be difficult to take, especially after running through a long list of what you hoped were good prospects. They say that it is always the 100th contact that says yes, in other words, you have to experience multiple ‘nos’ before you can be blessed with a ‘yes’.  As an aside, I have proved this wrong!  As a rooky field salesperson, I was given a list of hundreds of contacts, and a telephone.  My first even slightly positive response came at number 166!  By this time, I was desperate. You could probably hear it in my voice. Of course, it is more about what you say than how many contacts you have spoken with (a fact that many call centres do not appear to understand). It is quality, not quantity that counts.

I have met so many despondent salespeople, who have been given, or have bought a long list of prospects. The more ‘nos’ you get the more likely you will lose your self-confidence, your self-belief and your ‘mojo’.  Your positivity will falter, your energy will be sapped and your motivation will suffer. Many will consider this as rejection and take it personally.

As a salesperson, this is very dangerous.  In sales you need to be able to demonstrate these attributes consistently with you prospects and customers.

How do you deal with the ‘Nos’, the perceived rejection of you and your products or services?

Motivation, Inspiration, Positivity and Wellbeing are very important and even more so for salespeople who have to cope with such rejection, and the fear of rejection on a regular basis.  However, it is often very difficult to muster these feelings, let alone maintain them.

For these reasons I now offer my customers the option of a motivational version of their courses and sessions. Besides dealing with ‘nos’, I include mindset training, self-monitoring and recovery techniques, authenticity and positivity, building self-reliance, selling yourself and other topics designed to maintain a positive approach and outcome.

Maintaining authentic positivity is key to a salesperson’s continuing success.  This can be done by the individual, but also by a senior team if you have one.  What do I mean by ‘Authentic’ positivity?  There is no point in forcing yourself to feel differently. It will soon be spotted as fake.  There is a balance to be had between presenting a positive attitude and exuding confidence, and showing how you really feel.  A genuine buoyant attitude will usually be well received, but just as valuable is a cautious optimism that includes a pragmatic realism. This approach could result in more engagement.